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In SS2 your skills actually had an effect on hacking, which is really important for a skill-based game.

"Skills" usually refers to player skill. I think you meant to describe SS2 hacking as stats-based, which as others have pointed out, is exactly what it is.

When I play SS2, it's not ME hacking, it's my character. That's how stats-based games are. As such, we're fortunate to have gotten any interactivity at all in the hacking process. So clearly SS2's hacking minigame is not lacking, despite what certain people who have great difficulty maintaining a coherent line of reasoning may think.

I actually preferred the hacking process in bioshock, even if it made no sense at all and was way too easy. But it was more involved than poking stuff at random (and was slightly less laughable but not as fun as flying around in tron-land shooting..uh... data at stuff).

The only one I've really liked is the Trespasser 9000 in Ratchet and Clank, since a device designed to manipuate a laser-based lock system probably would work like that.

I think the hacking system for devices should consist of a minigame where you have to "re-wire" the system to bypass the authentication. For a computer, I'd suggest a simplified version of Uplink's gameplay. You have to select where you want to put your hacking device's power, then run a series of programs to break through the computer's security protocols.

How well does the Dark Mod run on the Xbox? I think if you look at all of the publisher's design goals for TDS/DXIW and compare them to what more competent developers were capable of doing with Unreal 2, that it was a perfectly reasonable choice of an engine.

I seem to recall the part where DOOM 3 was ported to the xbox, and even well received due to implement some co-op levels.

Anyways, the point is moot for Deus Ex 3. The Next-Gen consoles are more than capable of running the Unreal 3 engine, as showcased by Mass Effect and Gears of War, both of which look almost as good as PC Games.

As for DX3, I don't have high expectations, which is probably a good thing. I can be pleasantly surprised, but not dissappointed. I do have hope, though: Without the man responsible for such retarded ideas as the "Eye" interface and unified ammo, this game stands a chance of beating DX2.

What it Won't do is pass DX1, with the main reason being story. One of the main forces driving the player along is the discovery of a (almost realistic) conspiracy, and the resulting effect on your motivation. You want to find out who the conspirators are, what their plans are, and find out if there is anything that can be done to stop them. Unlike other games, it is very much in doubt whether one man, even an augmented one, can do enough to stop the powerful corporate and government machines your enemies have control of.

There's certainly no intrinsic reason why DX3's story couldn't be as good as DX1's. The nice thing about conspiracy-based stories is that there's so bloody many real-life conspiracy theories to draw from. DX1 just scratched the surface of what's available.

But in the end, what really made DX1's story work was that they managed to populate it with characters that players cared about (both positively and negatively). IW completely fell on its face in that department.

That's something DXIW failed at- it didn't feel relevant, even though all kinds of crazy shit had been going on- the Iraq War had started that year, for example. Funny thing about DX1, it came out a year before 9/11 yet was made all the more relevant afterwards. Spooky thing to notice is that the WTC is absent from the NYC skyline. Spookier thing to notice is IS' explanation that it was due to some sort of texture/skybox issue so they just left it like that and came up with the justification that terrorists blew it up.

"Skills" usually refers to player skill. I think you meant to describe SS2 hacking as stats-based, which as others have pointed out, is exactly what it is.

When I play SS2, it's not ME hacking, it's my character. That's how stats-based games are. As such, we're fortunate to have gotten any interactivity at all in the hacking process. So clearly SS2's hacking minigame is not lacking, despite what certain people who have great difficulty maintaining a coherent line of reasoning may think.

Yes, that's what I said. I refer to them as skills, because you boost the characters stats and skills, and hacking is not a stat in SS2.

When I play SS2, it's not ME hacking, it's my character. That's how stats-based games are. As such, we're fortunate to have gotten any interactivity at all in the hacking process. So clearly SS2's hacking minigame is not lacking, despite what certain people who have great difficulty maintaining a coherent line of reasoning may think.

"We're fortunate to have gotten any interactivity at all"... Dunno. For me, the main point is "Is it fun?" And that's all in the implementation. I liked the interplay of skill and stats in Deus Ex's shooter elements - depending on how many points you put into the stat it was immensely difficult but still doable to hit someone most of the time. I'd agree with those who didn't find the hacking in System Shock that much fun, because it was much closer to just rolling the dice. (Playing Neverwinter Nights 2 at the moment, I realise that I don't really enjoy rolling dice that much - although I don't remember minding as much in Baldur's Gate 2 or Planescape Torment.) In fact, for me it was so close to sheer luck that I could have done without the minimal interactivity... or better, the minigame would have been more interesting.

I always equated those types of puzzles with the godawful ones from Resident Evil or Myst games. I suppose Shock got it right by making them non-essential for the most part as well as providing override items for those particularly convoluted ones.

IIRC, the original script for Deus Ex- serie was meant to be three games long.

Which is funny because I always said that a DX movie should be a trilogy. (And if it were up to me, I'd end it with the Helios ending- that one always seemed to be the "right" ending, fitting with the themes of the whole game and it made JC more than just a simple hero character, it gave him some form of ultimate purpouse that went beyond simply destroying Bob Page or the global network.)